Recently there has been a growing amount of attention devoted to tuneable photonic crystals (PhCs) where the optical response of PhC structures can be dynamically modified. We will show how infiltrating planar PhCs with a synthetic organic material allows the trimming and tuning of their optical properties. The potential of PhC infiltration
will be demonstrated for InP-based planar PhCs consisting of a hexagonal array of air holes (hole diameter = 200 − 400 nm; air filling factor = 0.40-0.50) etched through a planar waveguide in which light emitters (i.e. quantum wells) were embedded to enable optical measurements. The PhC pores were infiltrated with LC-K15 (5CB) nematic liquid crystals (LCs) in a specifically designed vacuum chamber, thereby changing the refractive index contrast between the holes and the semiconductor (trimming). Moreover, the possibility of tuning the optical response of PhCs by an external perturbation (i.e. temperature) was demonstrated. The change of the PhC optical properties due to infiltration and temperature tuning was studied both experimentally and theoretically. Experimental measurements were compared to theoretical calculations in order to obtain information on the in-filling efficiency, the LC refractive index, and the molecule orientation inside the holes. In the first case, optical measurements were performed as a function of
temperature, whilst the average LC director configuration was determined by comparing transmission spectra in the transverse electric and magnetic polarization directions.

We report on the temperature tuning of the optical properties of planar Photonic Crystal (PhC) microcavities. Studies were made on one and two dimensional PhCs that were etched in InP and GaAs vertical waveguides. Two dimensional (hexagonal) and one-dimensional (Fabry-Perot) cavities were optically investigated by an internal light source technique. The samples were mounted on a Peltier-stage which allowed temperature variation from T = 20 °C up to T = 76 °C. A linear dependence of the resonance wavelengths with respect to temperature is observed. A gradient of dλ/dT = 0.09 nm/°C and 0.1 nm/°C for the GaAs and InP based cavities was observed, respectively. These results are in agreement with the theoretical calculations based on the thermal dependence of the refractive index of the PhC semiconductor component.

Practical realizations of 2D (planar) photonics crystal (PhC) are either on a membrane or etched through a conventional heterostructure. While fascinating objects can emerge from the first approach, only the latter approach lends itself to a progressive integration of more compact PhC's towards monolithic PICs based on InP. We describe in this talk the various aspects from technology to functions and devices, as emerged from the European collaboration "PCIC." The main technology tour de force is deep-etching with aspect ratio of about 10 and vertical sidewall, achieved by three techniques (CAIBE, ICP-RIE, ECR-RIE). The basic functions explored are bends, splitters/combiners, mirrors, tapers, and the devices are filters and lasers. At the end of the talk, I will emphasize some positive aspects of "broad" multimode PhC waveguides, in view of compact add-drop filtering action, notably.

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